Hospital headwall communication system

1. A patient support apparatus comprising: a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon; a first transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with a stationary unit mounted in a room of a healthcare facility; a second transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with the stationary unit; and a controller adapted to transmit audio signals from the patient support apparatus to the stationary unit, the controller adapted to initially attempt to transmit the audio signals to the stationary unit via the first transceiver and, if the initial attempt is unsuccessful, to subsequently attempt to transmit the audio signals via the second transceiver, the controller further adapted to: (a) maintain heartbeat messages between the patient support apparatus and the stationary unit while the patient support apparatus is positioned in the room, each of the heartbeat messages includes a transmission and an acknowledgement; (b) alternate the heartbeat messages between the first and second transceivers; (c) respond to a transmission from the stationary unit received via one of the first and second transceivers with an acknowledgement sent over the other of the first and second transceivers; and (d) issue an alert if the heartbeat messages stop.

2. The patient support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a wired transceiver adapted to communicate with a nurse call system port mounted to a wall of the room, wherein the controller is further adapted to transmit the audio signals from the patient support apparatus to the nurse call system port if the initial attempt to transmit the audio signals to the stationary unit using the first transceiver and the subsequent attempt to transmit the audio signals to the stationary unit using the second transceiver are both unsuccessful.

3. The patient support apparatus of claim 2 further comprising: a base having a plurality of wheels; a frame on which the support surface is supported; a lift subsystem for raising and lowering the frame with respect to the base; a plurality of siderails adjacent the support surface, the siderails movable between raised and lowered positions; and a sensor adapted to detect a parameter relating to a component of the patient support apparatus; wherein the controller is further adapted to transmit the parameter to the stationary unit using the first transceiver, or if the initial attempt is unsuccessful, using the second transceiver.

4. The patient support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first transceiver is a radio frequency (RF) transceiver and the second transceiver is an infrared transceiver.

5. The patient support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the controller is further adapted to receive caregiver audio signals from a nurse call system in communication with the stationary unit and to forward the caregiver audio signals to a speaker onboard the patient support apparatus, the controller receiving the caregiver audio signals via the first transceiver, or if the initial attempt is unsuccessful, via the second transceiver.

6. A patient support apparatus comprising: a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon; a first transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with a stationary unit mounted in a room of a healthcare facility; a second transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with the stationary unit; and a controller adapted to transmit audio signals from the patient support apparatus to the stationary unit, the controller adapted to initially attempt to transmit the audio signals to the stationary unit via the first transceiver and, if the initial attempt is unsuccessful, to subsequently attempt to transmit the audio signals via the second transceiver, wherein the controller is further adapted to perform the following: (a) pair the first transceiver and the stationary unit by sending a pairing key to the stationary unit via the second transceiver; (b) only transmit the audio signals via the first transceiver after pairing the first transceiver and the stationary unit; and (c) delete the pairing key from all memory on the patient support apparatus after a communication session between the first transceiver and the stationary unit has ended.

7. The patient support apparatus of claim 6 wherein the controller generates the pairing key using a hash function and a plurality of values, the plurality of values including at least one of the following: a serial number, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a time, a date, or a location.

8. The patient support apparatus of claim 6 further comprising: a base having a plurality of wheels; a frame on which the support surface is supported; a lift subsystem for raising and lowering the frame with respect to the base; a plurality of siderails adjacent the support surface, the siderails movable between raised and lowered positions; and a sensor adapted to detect a parameter relating to a component of the patient support apparatus; wherein the controller is further adapted to transmit the parameter to the stationary unit using the first transceiver, or if the initial attempt is unsuccessful, using the second transceiver.

9. The patient support apparatus of claim 6 wherein the controller is further adapted to receive caregiver audio signals from a nurse call system in communication with the stationary unit and to forward the caregiver audio signals to a speaker onboard the patient support apparatus, the controller receiving the caregiver audio signals via the first transceiver, or if the initial attempt is unsuccessful, via the second transceiver.

10. The patient support apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a wired transceiver adapted to communicate with a nurse call system port mounted to a wall of the room, wherein the controller is further adapted to transmit the audio signals from the patient support apparatus to the nurse call system port if the initial attempt to transmit the audio signals to the stationary unit using the first transceiver and the subsequent attempt to transmit the audio signals to the stationary unit using the second transceiver are both unsuccessful.

11. The patient support apparatus of claim 6 wherein the first transceiver is a radio frequency (RF) transceiver and the second transceiver is an infrared transceiver.

12. A patient support apparatus comprising: a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon; a first transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with a stationary unit mounted in a room of a healthcare facility; a second transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with the stationary unit; and a controller adapted to transmit audio signals from the patient support apparatus to the stationary unit and to exchange heartbeat messages with the stationary unit, the controller exchanging heartbeat messages by alternating the heartbeat messages between the first and second transceivers, the controller further adapted to: (a) issue an alert if the heartbeat messages stop; (b) pair the first transceiver and the stationary unit by sending a pairing key to the stationary unit via the second transceiver; and (c) only transmit the audio signals via the first transceiver after pairing the first transceiver and the stationary unit.

13. The patient support apparatus of claim 12 wherein each of the heartbeat messages includes a transmission and an acknowledgement, and the controller is adapted to respond to a transmission from the stationary unit received via one of the first and second transceivers with an acknowledgement sent over the other of the first and second transceivers.

14. The patient support apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a microphone, wherein the audio signals are generated by the microphone in response to the patient speaking into the microphone, and wherein the controller initially attempts to transmit the audio signals to the stationary unit via the first transceiver and, if the initial attempt is unsuccessful, to subsequently attempt to transmit the audio signals via the second transceiver.

15. The patient support apparatus of claim 14 wherein the first transceiver is a radio frequency (RF) transceiver and the second transceiver is an infrared transceiver.

16. A patient support apparatus comprising: a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon; a microphone adapted to generate audio signals in response to the patient speaking into the microphone; a first wireless transceiver adapted to communicate the audio signals to a stationary unit mounted in a room of a healthcare facility if the stationary unit is present; a second wireless transceiver; a wired transceiver adapted to communicate with a nurse call system port; and a controller adapted to determine if the stationary unit is present in the room by sending a message to the stationary unit using the first wireless transceiver and analyzing a reply, if any, from the stationary unit, the controller adapted to automatically transmit the audio signals using the first wireless transceiver if the stationary unit is present and to automatically transmit the audio signals using the wired transceiver if the stationary unit is not present; the controller further adapted to also use the second wireless transceiver to determine if the stationary unit is present in the room.

17. The patient support apparatus of claim 16 wherein the controller is further adapted to conclude the stationary unit is not in the room only if neither of the first and second wireless transceivers is able to establish communications with the stationary unit.

18. The patient support apparatus of claim 17 wherein the first wireless transceiver is an RF transceiver, the second wireless transceiver is an infrared transceiver, and the nurse call system port is a multi-pin receptacle adapted to receive a cable having a multi-pin connector.

19. A patient support apparatus comprising: a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon; a microphone adapted to generate audio signals in response to the patient speaking into the microphone; a first wireless transceiver adapted to communicate the audio signals to a stationary unit mounted in a room of a healthcare facility if the stationary unit is present; a wired transceiver adapted to communicate with a nurse call system port; a sensor adapted to detect if the wired transceiver is coupled to the nurse call system port, the sensor adapted to detect a voltage supplied by the nurse call system port when the wired transceiver is coupled to the nurse call system port; and a controller adapted to determine if the stationary unit is present in the room by sending a message to the stationary unit using the first wireless transceiver and analyzing a reply, if any, from the stationary unit, the controller adapted to automatically transmit the audio signals using the first wireless transceiver if the stationary unit is present and to automatically transmit the audio signals using the wired transceiver if the stationary unit is not present.

20. The patient support apparatus of claim 19 further including a second wireless transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with the stationary unit, wherein the first wireless transceiver is an RF transceiver, the second wireless transceiver is an infrared transceiver, and the nurse call system port is a multi-pin receptacle adapted to receive a cable having a multi-pin connector.